The invention relates to a method, a processor device, a motor vehicle having such a processor device and a message transmission system for transmitting a message to be displayed to a display device of a motor vehicle.
Motor vehicles often have display devices, which can be used to display many different kinds of information to the driver and/or the passengers in the motor vehicle. This information can come from, e.g., a navigation device, a radio, a CD/DVD player, a modem (internet) or from any other device or system in the motor vehicle.
The information displayed on the display device in modern vehicles is processed, prepared and reproduced on the display device by software modules. These software modules, which are and can be executed on the motor vehicle, typically provide different services. These services can be, for example, system services, network services, telecommunications services, navigation services, media playback services, messaging services and other information, entertainment and assistance services.
The services can either be free or else provided by a service provider on a fee-paying basis. The service providers are often motor vehicle manufacturers, who offer the services to a buyer of a motor vehicle. The buyer can then book such a service if required.
Different motor vehicles from the same manufacturer often have different software versions. While certain services may be provided on a motor vehicle, or the necessary software modules are installed and running there, it may be the case that these software modules are not available on another vehicle. In particular, there are motor vehicles on which no software module for a messaging service is present and running.
This can also be true if the term of the contract of a booked service ends. It is then possible to terminate the software modules which are necessary for a service, or even to uninstall them with their associated components.
In certain situations, it may be advantageous to conduct a communication with the driver and/or the keeper of the motor vehicle. Often, however, there is no communication facility available since information about a buyer, in particular a second or subsequent buyer, is not available to the manufacturer for reasons such as data protection. This means that the manufacturer is denied the opportunity to communicate directly with the buyer. In some countries, it is only possible for the manufacturer to communicate with the buyer via official bodies, or to send messages to the buyer indirectly. This is often possible in the case of e.g. recall actions for repairs or correction of defects in some countries, such as Germany, in these exceptional cases.
The object of the invention is to create a method, a processor device, a motor vehicle having such a processor device and a message transmission system for transmitting a message to be displayed to a display device of a motor vehicle, so that the message can be transmitted to this vehicle at any time and displayed on its display device regardless of the software and/or mobile radio status of the vehicle.
Another object of the invention is to create a method, a processor device, a motor vehicle having such a processor device and a message transmission system for transmitting a message to be displayed to a display device of a motor vehicle, so that keeper-specific or driver-specific information can be obtained and/or acknowledgement of the message can be confirmed.
Another of the objects of the invention is to create a method, a processor device, a motor vehicle having such a processor device and a message transmission system for transmitting a message to be displayed to display devices of a plurality of motor vehicles, so that an available transmission capacity can be used efficiently.
One or more of these objects is achieved by a method or a device in accordance with the independent claims. Advantageous designs of the invention are described in the respective dependent claims.
A method for transmitting a message to be displayed on a display device of a motor vehicle comprises the steps:                selecting at least one motor vehicle to which a message is to be transmitted, from a motor vehicle database on a central computer on the basis of pre-defined selection criteria and ascertaining a mobile radio system mobile radio identification number which is associated with the respective motor vehicle,        activating an inactive subscriber identity module of the mobile radio system on the basis of the mobile radio identification number, wherein the subscriber identity module is connected to a radio device of the at least one selected motor vehicle,        setting up a data connection from the central computer to the radio device of the at least one selected motor vehicle via the mobile radio system,        transmitting the message to be displayed from the central computer via the data connection to a processor device, connected to the radio device, of the respective ascertained motor vehicle,        further processing of the message by the processor device, and displaying the message on a display device connected to the processor device.        
By selecting at least one motor vehicle to which a message is to be transmitted on the basis of the pre-defined selection criteria, the message can be targeted to one or more specific motor vehicles.
The selection criteria for selecting at least one motor vehicle comprise a vehicle identification number, a motor vehicle type, a motor vehicle model, a motor vehicle key number, year of manufacture, mobile radio status and/or a software status. These criteria can be applied or used individually or in combination to select the motor vehicles.
The transmission of the message is carried out using the radio device of the at least one selected motor vehicle. Such transmission devices are often connected to subscriber identity modules. These subscriber identity modules are necessary in order to be able to set up a communication over a mobile radio system, since the subscriber identity module uniquely identifies the subscriber in the respective mobile radio network. The subscriber identity module is identified on the basis of the mobile radio identification number.
For example, such subscriber identity modules can be designed as a SIM card.
In many cases, such subscriber identity modules are already installed in vehicles at the time of manufacture. Depending on the services booked by the buyer, the corresponding subscriber identity module is either activated or deactivated.
Activating an inactive subscriber identity module creates the possibility of transmitting the message to be displayed to the display device of the respective motor vehicle which is fitted with the subscriber identity module. This means that communication can take place independently of a mobile radio status of the motor vehicle. This enables a direct communication with the driver, who is often identical to the buyer, and/or the occupants of the motor vehicle even if the subscriber identity module is inherently deactivated.
A subscriber identity module is activated via a mobile radio service provider of the associated mobile radio system, by the mobile radio provider configuring the mobile radio system for the mobile radio identification number in such a way that the subscriber identity module is accepted as valid for use in the mobile radio system.
The mobile radio status is understood in the context of the present invention to mean the state in which the mobile radio components of the motor vehicle are in with regard to their ability to communicate.
Before transmitting the message to be displayed the central computer can check via the data connection whether one or more software modules on the processor device are needed for further processing and/or displaying the message. If a required software module is not installed on the processor device, an installation command or the corresponding software module together with the installation command can be transmitted from the central computer via the data connection to the processor device to install the corresponding software module. If a required software module is not running, an execute command can be transmitted from the central computer via the data connection to the processor device to execute the corresponding software module.
By this installation and/or execution of these software modules, the message to be displayed can be transmitted to the motor vehicle at any time and displayed on its display device, regardless of the software status of the vehicle.
In the context of the present invention the software status is understood to mean the state in which the software modules are with regard to their installation state and their current execution state.
The installation state comprises the following states:                installed,        not installed and installable, and        not installed and not installable.        
A non-installed and directly installable software module can be stored in a memory device connected to the processor device in the motor vehicle and installed from there. However, if a non-installed and non-installable software module is present, then the central computer can transmit this for installation. A software module transmitted in this way is stored in the storage device as an installable software module and is installed from there by means of the transmitted installation command.
The execution state comprises the following conditions:                executing,        not executing and executable, and        not executing and not executable.        
A non-executing and non-executable software module in the context of the present invention is understood to mean a software module for the execution of which certain other software modules are necessary, but are not currently executing and/or not installed.
Since the central computer is informed about the software status of the processor device, it can carry out the required operations in order to change the software status in such a way that the transmission of the message can take place. In other words, the central computer causes all software modules required for displaying the message to be in the installation state “installed”, and in the execution state “executing”. Only then does it transmit the message to be displayed.
One or more of the software modules which are installed and/or executing on the processor device for further processing of the message and/or displaying the message, can be uninstalled from the processor device by means of an uninstall command transmitted from the central computer and/or terminated on the processor device by means of a termination command transmitted from the central computer.
This allows the previous software status, i.e. the installation state before an installation and the execution state before an execution of software modules, to be restored.
During a de-installation, the software modules to be de-installed can be stored in the memory device so that they can be installed again from it quickly and easily if they are needed again. However, installable software modules can also be deleted from the storage device by the central computer.
After the message has been displayed on the display device the subscriber identity module can be deactivated.
This allows the previous mobile radio status to be restored.
Deactivating a subscriber identity module is performed in a similar way to the activation, via the mobile service provider of the associated mobile radio system.
To transmit the message to be displayed from the central computer, a trigger can be first transmitted to the processor device of the ascertained motor vehicle. The trigger can control the processor device to retrieve the message or a link to the message from the central computer. If in this operation a link to the message is retrieved from the central computer, then the processor device can retrieve the message by following the link.
This ensures that the available transmission capacity and/or the available resources are used efficiently.
In the context of the present invention the available transmission capacity is understood to mean the amount of data that can be transmitted via the mobile radio system per unit time.
Resources in the context of the present invention are hardware resources or system resources of a computer, which are needed for the operation of the computer or for executing computer programs.
A trigger in the context of the present invention is a small message containing the identifier of a recipient of the trigger and a reference to a data source. The reference to a data source can be understood to mean a command for retrieving data from the data source. The trigger can also contain a command for this retrieval, however.
Such a trigger can be transmitted many times, since it only contains a small amount of data. Even if a success rate of data retrieved due to a transmission of the trigger to different motor vehicle is not very high, the cost in terms of data to be transmitted is justifiable. Preferably, the trigger is no greater than 256 bytes or characters.
For a plurality of motor vehicles, the activation and/or deactivation of the subscriber identity module and/or the installation, the execution, the de-installation and/or the termination of the one or more software modules can be carried out by means of a selection among a plurality of motor vehicles.
This means that the previous mobile radio status and/or software status can be restored for a plurality of vehicles at the same time and therefore efficiently.
The selection of a plurality of motor vehicles can be carried out according to the selection criteria described above.
When displaying the message using an input device a user response, in particular a user confirmation or input, can be acquired by the processor device. This user response can be transmitted from the processor device via the data connection to the central computer for storage.
This enables a confirmation of the transmitted message by the user to be recorded and logged on the central computer. This is advantageous when messages are sent for which confirmation has legal importance, for example messages relating to recall actions. In some countries it is possible, for example, to communicate a recall action directly to the respective driver or buyer of the motor vehicle instead of via the authorities or the press, in order to comply with legal requirements.
Furthermore, the option exists to request data input by the user. This can involve requesting personal data, such as name, address, and/or other contact information, such as an e-mail address, phone number, etc. This allows the possibility of contacting the purchaser of the motor vehicle after their purchase, in order to offer additional service and/or after-sales care packages and thus increase customer satisfaction.
A user in the context of the present invention means the driver or one of the occupants of the motor vehicle and preferably the buyer or owner of the same, or a person authorized by them.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, a processor device is provided for transmitting a message to be displayed to a display device of a motor vehicle. In this case the processor device is designed for receiving messages to be displayed and for displaying messages on a display device of the motor vehicle. In order to receive messages to be displayed and to display messages the processor device can be connected to a data bus of the motor vehicle via a data bus interface. The data bus is connected to a radio device to receive messages to be displayed and to a display device for displaying messages. The processor device is designed to execute the method described above.
According to a further aspect of the present invention a motor vehicle is provided, which comprises such a processor device.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, a message transmission system is provided, which comprises such a motor vehicle.
In addition, the message transmission system can comprise a central computer for transmitting a message to be displayed to the display device of the motor vehicle and an operating computer for operating the central computer.
The central computer can be used to control the message transmission system centrally, wherein all control data can be accessed centrally on the central computer.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of one or more preferred embodiments when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.